Antipasto pizza
This pizza is a deliciously different way of enjoying classic Italian antipasto ingredients. We particularly like the combo of sweet roasted red peppers and marinated artichoke hearts with salty ham and robustly-flavored sun-dried tomatoes and olives, accented by the mild and creamy mozzarella cheese. It’s an ideal recipe when you don’t have much in the way of fresh ingredients in the house, as most of the ingredients are straight from a jar, can or packet.
Just as antipasto can be as simple or elaborate as you like, you can come up with all sorts of possible pizza-topping combinations, but be careful not to overload the pizza. You can use pancetta or prosciutto in place of ham, or add anchovies or good-quality canned tuna instead. If you don’t want to make the simple tomato sauce in this recipe, then use jarred passata or pesto instead. Use capers or caperberries in place of olives, or substitute the fresh basil with oregano or parsley. If you’d rather make your own pizza dough from scratch then go for it. Alternatively use a large whole wheat pita bread as the crust.
Enjoy a slice (or three) of this pizza with a fresh salad and a glass of wine or beer. Bellissimo!
3 tablespoons chopped canned tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 store-bought pre-baked pizza crust (or use a large whole wheat pita bread as the crust)
3 oz (85g) grated mozzarella cheese
3½ oz (100g) ham — diced
3 jarred marinated artichoke hearts — quartered
¼ cup sliced jarred sun-dried tomatoes
¼ cup jarred roasted red peppers — cut into strips
¼ cup finely diced red onion
8 black olives — pitted and halved
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh basil
